Gravity Darkening
by S.L. Abdallah
Summary: Regulus Black can not seem to feel anything but abandonement and betrayal ever since his brother turned on him, and he is struggling against the far too tempting advantages the Dark Lord has to offer, while trying to beat the struggle against himself.


"I can't _believe_ this."  
The eleven year old boy stared sadly at the ground, averting locking identical gray eyes with his older brother. He looked up a moment later to glance at the red and gold scarf around his brother's neck, and then looked down at the silver and green around his own. He shrugged his shoulders, his arms dangling limp at his side.  
"B-but Sirius, can't _you _switch out of Gryffindor?" Regulus asked, staring up at him with hopeful eyes.  
Sirius snorted and ran a hand through his straight black hair, and it fell swiftly back into his eyes. "No way. And even if I wanted to, it's not allowed."

Though he was only a year older than Regulus, Sirius was a few good inches taller. He let out a deep breath and scowled at the wall, as if it had done him some wrong. "Sorry, kid, but…you're on your own."   
Regulus' head shot up so quickly that he nearly snapped his neck, but after recovering in a few seconds time, he looked up at Sirius with shock and fear. "I don't know anyone here! You're my brother, and _we_ used to hang out all the time before you went off to school! What, can we not do that anymore?" he said, almost angrily. Sirius' expression softened, and he pulled his brother off to the side of the Great Hall by the sleeve of his robes.   
"Look, Regulus," he muttered, looking around quickly to make sure no one was watching before turning back to his brother, "I have a reputation here, all right? And Gryffindor's _hate_ Slytherin's….I don't know if it will work if I walk around with you, kid."  
Regulus frowned, his eyebrows furrowed as he sniffled slightly. "You…you hate me?"   
"No, no!" Sirius said quickly, blinking at his younger brother and feeling strangely uncomfortable. "You're my brother, Reg, I could never hate you!"  
"Then why wouldn't you want to be seen with me?" Regulus retorted, his eyes icy cold. "Cissy said she'd help me with classes, and she's in her seventh year! _She_ doesn't care if she's seen walking around with some kid, does she? And she has a reputation to worry about, too!"   
Sirius shrugged and smiled brightly, then clapped his brother on the back. "Then you're all set then, aren't you? Actually, wait, wait…no. I don't want you around her." He said quietly, narrowing his eyes as he finally looked at his brother.   
Regulus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why not? Cissy is one of my favorite cousins, and she's _really_ cool, Sirius, I mean it-"  
"She's not _cool_, she's a git. Listen," he started, obviously feeling a bit irritated now, "How about every couple weeks, we meet up or something? It just can't be in front of other people, okay? Besides, you'll have trouble making friends if other Slytherin's see you walking around with me."   
Regulus actually seemed like he might have accepted the idea at this point, and he brushed a few strands of his own black hair out of his eyes as he considered this. "Well…okay." He mumbled grudgingly; he wanted desperately to fit in, though he wasn't about to admit it to his popular, smarter, and more good-looking older brother. "But you _promise_ you'll check on me every once in a while, right? A-and we'll actually do stuff together?"   
Sirius smiled weakly and ruffled Regulus' hair. "I promise. Now go on, follow that idiot Narcissa so that you can find the Slytherin Common Room, okay? I'll see you around."  
Scowling at his comment about Narcissa but then smiling, Regulus gave his brother a fleeting hug before turning to follow the other Slytherin first years, feeling terribly excited as well as terribly nervous. He _would_ make friends, wouldn't he? He couldn't help but worry about the whole "fitting in" thing…

"Cissy!" he called out, making his way to the front of the group so that he could reach his cousin, who had to lead the first years to the common room due to her position as Head Girl. Narcissa continued walking but looked over her shoulder, and she smiled softly as her blue eyes landed on Regulus. She wrapped a few strands of shoulder-length, white blonde hair around her forefinger and motioned with her hand for Regulus to come walk with her. "I'm very proud of you," she said quietly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye and resting her hand on his shoulder as he approached her. "I had a feeling you would end up in Slytherin, anyway. It's the best house of the four houses, you know."   
Regulus smiled, but then his happiness faltered, and his smile shifted into a frown. "Sirius says it's the worst of them…I kind of wish I ended up in Gryffindor with him." He admitted, looking up at Narcissa. She crinkled her nose and looked ahead of her, continuing to lead the chattering and nervous bunch of first years as she removed her hand from Regulus' shoulder. "Your brother should learn to hold his tongue before it gets him into trouble. I assure you that Sirius will come to his senses soon enough and realize that we are in the right, and he is in the wrong." 

hr 

Sirius had never come by to check up on Regulus, not even when there was absolutely nobody insight.

As a matter of fact, the only times Sirius Black ever spoke to his brother was when he and that _stupid_ James Potter were making his life a living hell (and that idiot Peter Pettigrew, who would just merely be in the background acting like he was contributing to it). By the end of his first year, Regulus had learned what it was like to truly, _truly_ hate someone.  
Five years later. He was sixteen now, and the year before, his brother had finally decided he was fed up with his family and moved out, leaving them.

Leaving _him_.

Regulus missed the years before he ever came to school, and yes, he even missed his brother. But they would never get along the way they had when they were children.

"Regulus, I _refuse_ to help you with your potions homework if you keep bloody daydreaming!"  
His gray eyes became alert as he snapped back to attention, and he glanced apologetically at his friend. "Sorry, Severus," he mumbled, swallowing hard and pulling his notes closer to him. "Can't we go somewhere else? I hate the library, it's too quiet in here, I keep getting distracted by the smallest things-"  
"No, we can't," Severus said immediately, furrowing his eyebrows at Regulus as he looked in the opposite direction. "Not right now. We'll go once you've actually learned something, you little twit-"  
"Ahh, I see," Regulus said softly, smirking and letting his eyes wander in the direction of where Severus had been looking. "Just get over her, Sev. Mudbloods aren't even worth the trouble."   
Severus shot him a dirty look as he said this. "_Don't_ call her that!" he hissed, then he cringed as Lily Evans turned slightly in their direction, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Regulus rolled his eyes and shoved his books, incomplete homework, quill, and bottle of ink into his book bag, then got to his feet.   
"Where are you going?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched him leave.   
"Away, preferably, seeing as you're making me physically sick," Regulus muttered, running a hand through his disheveled black hair, not bothering to push it away as it fell into his eyes. He exited the library as quickly as possible and made his way out to the grounds, and his face fell when he realized that Sirius, James, and Peter were all sitting underneath his favorite tree; Lupin was actually quite tolerable, but Regulus considered him guilty by association. He didn't seem to be with his friends, however.

Just _looking_ at his brother agitated him.  
So popular, so smart, so funny, so much more attractive than he was - and Regulus wasn't even that bad! Why, he was proud to say that he was charmed with the Black Family's good looks, but even then, his brother had managed to beat him. Narrowing his eyes, Regulus hoisted his bag more comfortably onto his shoulder and decided to settle with a different tree for the day. It was only a few yards away from the trio's, but perhaps they wouldn't notice him if he stayed inconspicuous. He tossed his bag to the floor, and gave a start when he heard someone let out a yell, and he turned to stare at who he had just accidentally hit in the face.  
He was about to apologize, but found himself incapable of doing so, seeing as it was Lupin.  
"Oh, I'm….er, watch it, Lupin." Regulus said, a bit lamely, though he tried to glare at him.

Remus narrowed his eyes, rubbing at the spot Regulus' book bag had hit him on the head after setting a rather thick book down in his lap. "I assure you, I'll be more careful next time." He mumbled, shoving Regulus' bag to the side, as if agitated because it was too close inside of his personal bubble. Regulus frowned slightly and glanced from Remus, to the other three. "Why aren't you with the prats over there?" he asked, trying not to sound i too /i curious as he took a seat on the ground and rested his back against the trunk of the tree. Remus shrugged and turned the page of his book before answering. "I wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with their talk today." He said simply, not commenting on the fact that his best friends had just been called "prats" right in front of him. Perhaps he just didn't want to get himself into any sort of conflict?  
"Ah. I see." Regulus replied, though he really didn't see at all. He noticed that Remus was about to say something when his eyes widened with what he would have been ashamed to admit was horror.   
"Why _hello_, little Reggykins. It's been far too long since our last encounter, hasn't it?" Sirius said, smirking as he stood leaning against the three, staring down at Regulus.  
"Has it, now? I'm afraid I don't recall - pardon me for not keeping a record of everytime we speak, Sirius, even though each moment is much more glorious than the last," he said quietly, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he glared up at him. "And I'm _so_ sorry, but I don't believe I have a brother. I haven't since this past summer."   
Sirius narrowed his eyes at him, and Regulus didn't think any good was bound to come from this when James leaned against the tree on his other side. "What's the matter, Regulus? Are we ruining your lovely December morning?" James pouted at him mockingly as he twisted his wand in-between his fingers. "And where's good old Snivellus? So _strange_ to see you two apart from each other…almost like you're a couple, isn't it?"   
"Very mature, Potter," Regulus said, getting to his feet and wearing an incredibly fake smile. "I could say the same thing about you and Sirius!"  
"_Regulus_--" Sirius began, but he stopped abruptly when he realized Remus had gotten to his feet and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"Give it a rest, Sirius. You've put him through enough…" he looked quite uncomfortable to be going up against his friends, so he quickly removed his hand after he finished speaking. James and Sirius exchanged glances, while Peter hovered in the background, oblivious to the situation and just waiting for the show to begin.

Sirius glared at Regulus and turned abruptly and walked off without another word, and after raising an eyebrow at Remus, James followed pursuit. Once he figured that nobody was going to get hexed, Peter let out a sigh and ran after Sirius and James, leaving Regulus and Remus by themselves.  
"Uhm…thank you." Regulus said quietly, blinking and looking over at Remus with slight confusion. "And, er, just wondering, but, uhm - why the_ hell_ did you do that?"   
Remus shrugged and began to hastily gather up his belongings. "I don't know," he mumbled, not looking at Regulus as he spoke. "I just don't think you deserve the treatment he gives you, that's all. Especially because you're his brother…"  
"He's nothing to me." Regulus snapped, picking up his bag as well and slinging it over his shoulder. He frowned a bit and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think they liked it much - you defending me, I mean." Remus looked up at this, his eyebrows furrowed and the look of bewilderment on his face almost incredulous. "Regulus, why would I care? Yes, they're my friends, but it's not like I've undergone serious mind control." He said, rolling his eyes and holding his books tightly in his arms. "Anyway, er….I'm going to er, go to the library." Remus said quickly, and for a split second it showed on his face that he was wondering why the hell he'd bothered mentioning it aloud.  
Regulus noticed this and couldn't help but smirk. "All right. I'll see you around, then."  
After muttering a quick and slightly mortified "See you later", Remus hurriedly ran off, leaving Regulus rather entertained, but just as confused.  
This was interesting.


End file.
